Formation of new Critical Infrastructure business unit will address the challenge of balancing insider threat detection and data security with availability for industrial control systems and industrial IoT connected devices; Forcepoint appoints David Hatchell as Vice President of Critical Infrastructure

Forcepoint announced the creation of a new business unit to specifically meet the security challenges faced by critical infrastructure providers in today’s sophisticated threat landscape. The Forcepoint Critical Infrastructure business will leverage the full capability set of the company’s Global Governments and Enterprise Security businesses to deliver defense-grade cybersecurity offerings for insider threat detection, enhanced data security and advanced threat protection for critical infrastructure. The company will initially focus its efforts on organizations using industrial control systems (ICS) such as energy, oil and gas, and critical manufacturing.

Leveraging its 20-years of experience securing high-assurance environments, Forcepoint is the only company today that can address the critical infrastructure threat where it is most vulnerable—the human point of interaction with systems and data. The company will deliver a portfolio of integrated, behavioral-based cybersecurity products enriched with content relevant for the industrial space, focusing initially on network security solutions designed to bring more visibility to the sophisticated threats facing industrial control systems.

Connecting operational technology (OT) such as ICS and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to the IT network can offer new levels of functionality, cost savings and transparency to take advantage of big data and analytical insights. This dependence on connected devices also exponentially expands the attack surface of the OT environment within critical infrastructure. The combination of sophisticated attackers understanding how to disrupt a physical process with the frequency of attacks targeting users with trusted access to sensitive information compound the challenges facing CISOs and industrial plant operators to define ownership of these areas. According to Gartner1, “By 2021, 70 percent of OT security will be managed directly by the CIO, chief information security officer (CISO) or chief security officer (CSO) departments, up from 35 percent today.”

“The relative ease and low-cost of cyber attacks across borders today is leading to a crisis in critical infrastructure, where both the information technology and operational side of the house have to come together quickly,” said Sean Berg, senior vice president and general manager for Global Governments and Critical Infrastructure at Forcepoint. “These industries provide essential services that underpin society, and they need to control access to the plant or electric grid to protect their users and critical data. The most effective, holistic approach requires behavioral insight to automatically provide security countermeasures without impacting availability to prevent intrusion into critical systems.”

David Hatchell, who will report to Sean Berg, has been named Vice President of Critical Infrastructure and will lead the new Forcepoint business unit. A veteran of the technology and security industries, Hatchell formerly led the critical infrastructure practice at Intel/McAfee and Belden. The unit will focus on tailoring Forcepoint solutions to the unique product requirements, challenges, and markets of the critical infrastructure space.